Anchorage and reinforcement device for masonry walls

ABSTRACT

A REINFORCEMENT AND ANCHORAGE DEVICE HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING MEMBER AND AT LEAST A PAIR OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED TRANSVERSE MEMBERS ATTACHED TO THE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING MEMBER TO PROVIDE A REINFORCING STRUCTURE FOR INSERTION INTO THE MORTAR JOINT BETWEEN COURSES OF BLOCK MEMBERS OF A MASONRY WALL. THE REINFORCEING MEMBERS INCLUDE A PAIR OF OVERLAPPING U-SHAPED PORTIONS WHICH ARE CONNECTED TO THE TRANSVERSE MEMBERS   ALONG ONE SIDE OF THE STRUCTURE FOR SURROUNDING AND ENGAGING AN ANCHORED TIE ATTACHED TO A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR TYING THE MASONRY WALL THERETO. THE U-SHAPED PORTIONS ARE EACH PROVIDED WITH A FREE END TO ALLOW THE ANCHOR TIE TO BE INSERTED THEREBETWEEN FOR ENABLING THE ASSEMBLY OF THE DEVICE ONTO AN ANCHOR ALREADY ATTACHED TO THE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE.

R. A. GULOW March 9, 1971 ANCHORAGE AND REINFORCEMENT DEVICE FOR MASONRY WALLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 5, 1968 INVENTOR. @0552? A. 60/. ow

W 211-70; ATTORNEYS March 9, 1971 R. A. GULOW ,5

ANCHORAGE AND REINFORCEMENT DEVICE FOR MASONRY WALLS v Filed Nov. 5, 1968 2 SheetsSheet 2 INVENTOR. 05627 4 G04 0W 53% AT'I0RNEY5.

I I I United States Patent Ofi ice 3,568,389 Patented Mar. 9, 1971 U.S. Cl. 52714 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A reinforcement and anchorage device having a longitudinally extending member and at least a pair of longitudinally spaced transverse members attached to the longitudinally extending member to provide a reinforcing structure for insertion into the mortar joint between courses of block members of a masonry Wall. The reinforcing members include a pair of overlapping U-shaped portions which are connected to the transverse members along one side of the structure for surrounding and engaging an anchored tie attached to a supporting structure for tying the masonry wall thereto. The U-shaped portions are each provided with a free end to allow the anchor tie to be inserted therebetween for enabling the assembly of the device onto an anchor already attached to the supporting structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention pertains to a masonry wall reinforcing device and particularly a reinforcing device which includes a portion for coacting with an anchor on a supporting structure to tie the masonry wall to the supporting structure.

Prior art Existing masonry reinforcing devices can be classified in sub-categories based on the purpose and use of the particular device. One group of the sub-categories is directed to a structural device inserted in a horizontal mortar joint to prevent cracking in the mortar joint and for interconnecting or tying together a pair of masonry walls. A second group of reinforcing devices are considered tie members which are connected to an anchor provided on a supporting structure such as an I-beam and extend into the mortar joint for tying the masonry wall to the supporting structure. A common example of the type of device for tying a masonry wall to an I-beam or supporting structure is the provision of a U-shaped structure having the ends of the legs of the U-portion bent towards each other to provide a gap which is utilized in threading the structure onto an anchor tie or eye on the supporting structure. The U-shaped structure for tying a masonry wall to a supporting wall does not provide any appreciable reinforcement of the masonry joint of the wall and only acts to tie the masonry wall to the supporting structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a reinforcement device for a masonry wall which reinforces the masonry joint and ties the wall to a supporting structure. The reinforcing device has plural transverse members which are attached to a longitudinally extending member at spaced points to provide a reinforcing structure for a masonry joint and is provided with an engagement means for attaching the reinforcing device to an anchor tie provided on a supporting structure such as an I-beam. In the preferred embodiment, the engagement means comprises a pair of U-shaped members which are attached to the transverse members. The U-shaped members are in an overlapping relationship with each U-shaped member having a free end to enable the insertion of a previously attached anchor tie between the U-shaped portions for assembling the reinforcement device thereon. The U-shaped portions are formed so that they lie substantially in the same plane as the longitudinally extending member and the transverse members, but present their bight portions in a superimposed relationship so that the bight portion of each of the U-shaped portion is in contact with the anchor tie.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the reinforcement device of the present invention tying a masonry wall having a cavity veneer wall to a supporting structure.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the reinforcement device similar to FIG. 1, tying a masonry wall having a brick veneer to a supporting structure.

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating the insertion of the reinforcement device on an anchor tie.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the engagement means of the preferred structural embodiment of the reinforcement device.

FIG. 5 is an end view taken along lines VV of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the engagement means of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of a modified engagement means for the reinforcement device.

FIG. 8 is an end view taken along lines VIIIVIII.

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the modified engagement means of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The principles of the present invention are best illustrated by a masonry reinforcement and anchoring device generally indicated at 10 which comprises a reinforcing structure 11 and an engagement means 12. The device 10 is disposed in a horizontal mortar joint of a masonry wall generally indicated at 13 and engages with the engagement portion 12 an anchor tie 14, which is attached to a supporting structure generally indicated at 15, to tie the masonry wall 13 to the supporting structure 15. The masonry Wall 13 may be a single or a double wythe of block members assembled by horizontal and vertical mortared joints.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the masonry wall 13 is a cavity wall having a wythe 16 of cement block members and a brick facing or veneer wall 17 spaced from the cement block wythe 16 by a cavity 18. The masonry wall 13 can also be multiple wythe wall 13' as illustrated in FIG. 2, comprising a cement block wall 16' and a brick facing or veneer wall 17'. The double or multiple wythe wall 13' can be made up of either similar block members as two wythes of bricks or can comprise wythes of different building block members as illustrated.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the supporting structure 15 is made up of vertical I-beams 19 connected with horizontal I-beams 20. The anchor tie 14 may be a single member 21 having an offset portion 22 which forms with a surface 23 of the I-beam 20 an elongated eye for receiving the engagement means 12 of the device 10. The anchor tie 14 can also be part of a continuous member 25 having spaced ofiset portions 26 which coact with a face or surface 27 of the I-beam 19 to form a plurality of horizontally spaced anchor ties 14. The anchor ties 14, as illustrated, enable horizontal adjustment of the position of the reinforcement and anchoring device 10 to compensate for variations in the height of the horizontal masonry joint of the masonry wall 13.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the reinforcing structure 11 of the device comprises a longitudinally extending first member 30 and transverse extending legs or second members 31, 32, 33 and 34. The transverse legs 31-34 are longitudinally spaced apart and attached to the longitudinal member 30 preferably by a pressure spot welding process so that the joint therebetween has a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of the thickest member forming either the longitudinal extending member 30 or the transverse legs 31-34. As illustrated, the transverse members or legs 31-34 extend into the horizontal joint of the veneer wall 17 and the legs 31 and 32 are interconnected by a bight portion and the legs 33 and 34 are interconnected by a bight portion 36 to form U-shaped portions of the reinforcing structure 11.

The engagement means 12 is formed by a pair of overlapping U-shaped portions 37 and 38 which are formed adjacent the end of a pair of longitudinally extending portions or third members 39 and 40, respectively. As illustrated, the horizontally extending portions 39 and 40 are extensions of the transverse portion or legs 34 and 31, respectively; however, the portions 39 and 40 may be individual and separate pieces of wire which are attached to the transverse legs 33, 34 and 31, 32, respectively, by a pressure spot welding to provide a joint having a thickness which does not substantially exceed the thickness of the members.

As illustrated, the U-shaped portions 37 and 38 extend out of the horizontal mortar joint of the masonry wall 13 or 13' and around the anchor tie 14 in a connection which has sufiicient space for movement in a direction parallel to the longitudinally extending member 30. To firmly anchor the U-shaped portions 37 and 38 in the mortar joint, each of the U-shaped portions 37 and 38 is provided with a longitudinally extending portion 41 and '42 respectively which is an extension of one of the legs of the U-shaped portions and which are free ends.

As mentioned above, the reinforcement and anchoring device 10, illustrated in FIG. 2, is for tying masonry wall structure 13' having a cement block wythe 16' and a brick veneer or facing 17' to the supporting structure 15. If the masonry wall is a single wythe of block or brick members, the transverse legs 31-34 are modified so that they do not extend past the longitudinal member and do not have the U-shaped bights and 36. If the masonry wall is a cavity wall such as the cavity wall 13 of FIG. 1, each of the transverse legs 31-34 may be provided with a bent portion 43 which forms a moisture drip between the two wythes in the cavity 1 8.

As mentioned above, a substantial portion of the U- shaped portions 37 and 38 forming the engagement means 12 is disposed in the horizontal mortar joint of the masonry wall, and therefore it is desirable that the portion which is embedded in the mortar of the horizontal joint should have a thickness that does not exceed the thickness of the horizontal joint or of the other members of the device 10; however it is desirable that both the bottoms or bight portions of ehe U-shaped portions 37 and 38 engage the anchor tie 14. Therefore, the U-shaped portions 37 and 38 are preferably provided 'with bent portions as best illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 so that the bight portions are superimposed upon one another.

The U-shaped portion 38 comprises a pair of legs 48 and 49 interconneceed by a bight portion 50 which all lie in a single plane. The U-shaped portion 37 comprises a pair of legs 52, 53 having offset or bent portions 54 and respectively which connect the pair of legs to a bight portion 56. The major portion of the legs 52 and 53 lie in the same plane formed by the U-shaped portion 38 and the offset portions 54 and 55 position the bight portion 56 in an overlying, superimposed relationship with the bight portion 50 of the U-shaped portion 38 so that both bight portions 50 and 56 will engage or contact the anchor tie 14.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 7-9, a modified engagement means 12 comprising a modified U-shaped portion 37' and a U-shaped portion 38 which is the same as the U-shaped portion 38 of the previously described embodiment. The U-shaped portion 37 has a bight portion 56" interconnecting a pair of legs 52', 53' which have a major portion superimposed on the legs 48 and 49 respectively. The legs 52 and 53 are provided with bent or offset portions 54 and 55' respectively at their connection to longitudinally extending portions 41 and 39 respectively. By forming the offset portions 54' and 55' adjacent to the longitudinally extending portions 41 and 39', the major portion of the U-shaped portion 37' lies in a plane which is superimposed upon the plane defined by the U-shaped portion 38 and the remaining reinforcing structure 11 of the device 10.

In constructing a building using the reinforcement and anchoring device 10, preferably the members 21 and/or 25 are attached to the supporting structure 15 either prior to the erection of the individual I-beams of the structure or immediately thereafter. After the attachment of the members 21 and/ or 25, the reinforcing and anchoring device 10 is assembled with an anchor tie 14 in the manner best illustrated in FIG. 3.

The anchor tie 14 is moved between the longitudinally extending portion 40 and the free end portion 41 to pass between the U-shaped portions 37 and 38 to enter an enclosure portion defined by the longitudinal member 30, the transverse legs 32, 33 and portions of the longitudinal members 39 and 40. With a fixed spacing between the offset portion 26 and the surface 27 of the I-beam 19, the device 10 must be twisted and/or turned to enable the tie member 14 to pass between the offset portions such as 54 and 55 of the U-shaped portion 37. Once the anchor tie 14 is in the enclosure, it is moved into the engagement means 12 and the device 10 is supported by the anchor tie until the masonry wall is built to a level for the device to be disposed in the mortar joint between the courses of the block members during construction of the wall.

Although minor modifications might be suggested by those skilled in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A reinforcement and anchoring device for insertion in a joint of a masonry wall of separate block members assembled together by horizontal and vertical mortar joints to tie the masonry wall to a supporting structure, said device comprising:

a longitudinally extending first member;

transverse second members longitudinally spaced along said first member and attached thereto; and

a pair of third members each of which has a U-shaped portion adjacent one end, each of said third members being attached at the other end to a second member and extending toward each other and parallel to said first member with their respective U-shaped portions overlapping to provide an engagement means of double thickness for receiving and engaging an anchor tie attached to a supporting structure, the one end of each of the third members being free to enable insertion of the anchor tie between the free end and the other third member of the pair and between the U-shaped portions of the third member during the assembly of the device on the anchor tie.

2. A reinforcement and anchoring device according to claim 1, wherein each U-shaped portion of each third member has a bight portion interconnecting a pair of legs with the legs adjacent the free end connected to a short longitudinally extending portion, whereby both legs of each U-shaped portion are anchored in the mortar of the joint to prevent movement of the engagement means with respect to the masonry wall after assembly thereof is completed.

3. A reinforcement and anchoring device according to claim 2, wherein the legs and bight portion of one of said U-shaped portions'lies in a plane defined by the first and second members and wherein the legs of the other U-shaped portion include bent portions so that the bight portion of said other U-shaped portion is superimposed on the first mentioned bight portion.

4. A reinforcement and anchoring device according to claim 3, wherein the bent portions of the legs of said second mentioned U-shaped portion are adjacent the longitudinally extending portions of the third member so that the major portion of each of the legs of the second mentioned U-shaped portions are superimposed on the legs of the first mentioned U-shaped portion and defined With the superimposed bight portion a second plane.

5. A reinforcement and anchoring device according to claim 1, wherein said transverse second members are legs of a U-shaped portion interconnected by a bight portion, and said legs are of a length so that the bight portion is disposed in a horizontal joint of a second masory wall to interconnect the masonry walls together.

6. A reinforcement and anchoring device according to claim 5, wherein said transverse second portions are each provided with a deformed portion so that said device is provided with moisture drips between the two masonry walls.

7. A reinforcement and anchoring device for insertion in a joint of a masonry wall of separate members assembled by vertical and horizontal mortar joints for tying the masonry wall to a supporting structure, said device comprising:

a first member adapted to be located in a mortar joint of a masonry wall;

second members extending transversely to said first member, each of said second members being spaced from the remaining second members and being attached to said first members at a point spaced from the point of attachment to the remaining second members to define a reinforcing structure;

an engagement means including a U-shaped portion having a pair of legs interconnected by a bight portion, each of the legs of said pair having a portion parallel to said first member and a second portion adjacent said bight portion extending transversely to said first portion, said pair of legs having a length so that the bight portion extends out of the mortar joint to receive and engage an anchor tie attached to the supporting structure, said U-shaped portions being attached to said reinforcing structure by one leg of said pair of legs so that the other leg has a free end to enable the assembly of said reinforcing and anchoring device on the anchor tie, said one leg being attached to said reinforcing structure by the attachment of the first portion of said one leg to one of said second members; and

a third member attached to one of said second members extending parallel to said first member to overlap and contact the free end of said U-shaped portion.

8. A reinforcement and anchoring device for insertion in a joint of a masonry wall of separate block members assembled together by horizontal and vertical mortar joints to tie the masonry wall to a supporting structure, said device comprising:

a longitudinally extending first member;

transverse second members longitudinally spaced along said first member and attached thereto; and

a pair of third members each of which has a U-shaped portion adjacent one end, said third members being attached at the other end to the second member and extending parallel to said first member with their respective U-shaped portions overlapping to provide an engagement means of double thickness for receiving and engaging an anchor tie attached to a supporting structure, the one end of each of the third members being free to enable insertion of the anchor tie between the free end and the other third member of the pair and between the U-shaped portions of the third member during the assembly of the device on the anchor tie,

each of said U-shaped portions having a bight portion interconnecting a pair of legs with the legs adjacent the free end connected to a short longitudinally extending portion, whereby both legs of each U-shaped portion are embedded in the mortar of the joint to prevent movement of the engagement means with respect to the masonry wall after assembly thereof is completed,

one of said U-shaped portions having its legs and bight portion lying in a plane defined by said first and second member, the other of said U-shaped portions having legs with bent portions adjacent the bight portion so that the bight portions of said other U-shaped portion is superimposed on the first mentioned bight portion and a major portion of the legs of said other U-shaped portion lie in said plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1968 Petty 52-712 1/1967 Brynjolfsson 52713 4/1968 Storch 52426 FOREIGN PATENTS 1914 Germany 52454 OTHER REFERENCES HENRY c. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 52428, 434 

